Series Preview/Know Your Foe: Colorado Rockies @ Houston Astros

After a 3-4 road trip with yet more injured players to add to the IL, Houston comes home for a 10-game home stand. Can some home cooking help out the ailing parts of the team (and fortify the good parts)?

Rockies Season since last meeting: The biggest plotline for Colorado is whether or not they can avoid breaking the record for worst MLB team in the World Series era (since 1903), which the 2024 White Sox set by going 41-121. It appears that they will not beat the Cleveland Spiders for most losses in a season (1899), and since that historically bad 9-50 start, they have somewhat improved from ultimate super-suck to just in line for historic suck. They actually off-loaded some players at the trade deadline in an actual attempt to try to rebuild. Unfortunately, much like the 2024 White Sox, the Rockies will not get to enjoy the best possible yield of a suck season as they are not eligible for the #1 pick in the 2026 MLB draft, thanks to recent anti-tanking rules.

Offense: [NOTE: Stat leaders based eligibility for batting title and who is currently on the roster, unless otherwise noted]

Pitching: [NOTE: Stat leaders based on eligibility for ERA title and who is currently on the roster, unless otherwise noted]

Projected Pitching Matchups (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

Rockies Field Position Starters (SUBJECT TO CHANGE) (BA/OBP/SLG)

Rockies Offense: Even accounting for the altitude advantage for Coors Field, the Rockies aren’t putting up a lot of offense. They are in the lower half of MLB in most categories, as befits a team flirting with history (29th in Runs, 23nd in BA, 30th in OBP, 21st in SLG). The two most effective bats in the lineup are C Hunter Goodman and JF Jordan Beck. Actually, the strength of the lineup rests with the team’s outfield, as CF Brenton Doyle and RF/DH Mickey Moniak reinforce the efforts of Beck. As for the rest of the team, well, they field a team. One-time NL MVP Kris Bryant is on the roster, but when he actually plays, he is a DH, and he’s only done that for 11 games. Injuries are forcing the Rockies to improvise a little with the lineup, bringing in some different bats like Tyler Freeman and Warming Bernabel. When they get on base, the Rockies rate 22^nd in steals, so they don’t get a lot of help once they have players on base.

Rockies Pitching/Defense: Even factoring that the team plays in the altitude of Colorado, this pitching staff is…really not good. In fact, they are the the worst in the league by nearly every available key metric (30th in ERA, 30th in WHIP, 30th in BAA). That their team ERA is just under 6, in this modern game when pitching dominates, is remarkable. More than a few beer-league softball pitchers have better ERAs. Arguably their best pitcher, Jake Bird, was traded at the deadline, but he wasn’t exactly setting the world afire, even as he led (and still leads) the team with 10 holds. The starters, well, they…start, but, uh, yikes!!! If the best ERA of a starter is 5.16, in the modern game…uh, yeah. The team “ace” is Kyle Freeland, but as of now, Houston is not projected to face him. In relief, Colorado will turn to Jimmy Herget and Seth Halvorsen as their top relievers, although closing opportunities for Colorado remain few and far between (and with Halvorsen on the IL, likely Victor Vodnik (6 saves, 3.35 ERA) gets the call to close). Outside of those two pitchers, the team’s bullpen ranks 29^th in the league. The fielding/team defense is ranked 29^th in the league, and they have the 2^nd most errors in the league, so a bad staff is getting no help from the rest of the squad.

Most Dangerous Player: C Hunter Goodman. He leads the team most of the key offensive categories. In the 1^st game against the two squads, Goodman blasted two HRs in a 1 run loss. Of course, knowing Houston, Colorado will find some unsung hero that emerges to have a career series against a pitching staff that is being held together by bailing wire and duct tape, and even that is in short supply at this point. (Was tempted to say something about the Astros’ pitching here, but we shall see if they can right the ship).

Injuries: The Injury Demons care not if you are in playoff contention or playing out the string, they will have their sacrifices (they still clearly like the Astros, unfortunately, as Sousa (forearm) and Trammell (concussion) got added to the list. Yet, might we see Alvarez and Garcia soon?). As for the Rockies, see below:

Intangibles: For a team still facing the wrong kind of history, the Rockies have been playing better baseball as of late. This is borne out by the fact that the Rockies are 15-20 since the All-Star break (For reference, the Astros are 16-19 post All-Star break). This counts as a major improvement for Colorado. Before getting swept in 3 games by the Pirates, the Rockies had won 7 of 9. Given the chance that they will not set history, they will take that as something to build on for the future. However, the organization faces a major offseason of work, as they try to put together some semblance of a competent organization. Hampered by arguably the worst ownership in the game right now, who still thinks of things like analytics as pointless, the Rockies are going to have a lot of work to do just to get to mediocre.

Series Outlook: If there is one thing about Houston during the greatest decade in franchise history, it is that they find a way to play to the level of the competition. When it comes to the bottom-feeders of the league, that can be a hard thing for the Houston fan. Throw in inconsistency at home, an inconsistent offense, and a pitching staff ravaged by injuries and/or players trying to come back from injury, and the prospect of facing a last-place team like Colorado causes way more heartburn than necessary. Since the All-Star Break, Houston hosted the last place A’s and O’s. They went a collective 1-6 in those games. With the AL West shaping up to be a drunk hobo slapfight between Houston and Seattle, a series like this should be the opportunity for Houston to a) bank some much needed wins and b) a great chance to integrate some of the injured pitchers/players back into the lineup, provided Houston can avoid adding to that list. HOWEVER, with these Astros, especially since the All-Star Break, that cannot be taken for granted. Last place/struggling teams on the road to nowhere just love to get up for the Astros in Houston, and Houston, perhaps displaying an overabundance of Texas hospitality, seems to oblige.

NATIONAL COVERAGE: Maybe because we as a society enjoy the prospect of two train-wrecks crashing into each other, one of these games gets a national broadcast.